Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is facing criminal charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception on the campus of Wellesley College in the 1970s.
"Historically, this is the first cardinal the United States ever charged criminally for a sexual offense against a minor," Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who is representing the alleged victim, told GBH News.
The criminal complaint filed in the Dedham District Court, says McCarrick was a friend of the alleged victim’s family. It alleges multiple instances of abuse, including in New Jersey, New York, California and Massachusetts. McCarrick was only charged for his alleged abuse at the 1974 wedding reception at Wellesley College. The alleged victim was 16 at the time and was at his brother’s wedding.
A spokesperson for the Middlesex District Attorney’s office says an investigation there is ongoing.
"By reporting the sexual abuse to criminal authorities, my client is empowering other victims and making the world a safer place for children," Garabedian said.
McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C., was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation confirmed reports of sexual abuse. The criminal charges against him were first reported by the Boston Globe.
An attorney for McCarrick told GBH News they look forward to addressing the charges in the courtroom.
Garabedian is also representing six alleged victims who received settlements from the Archdiocese of Boston last month over allegations of abuse by five priests and a deacon between 1966 and 1990. Garabedian says the deacon and four of the priests had never been named publicly before as sexual abusers.
“It's really significant, because it shows that the Archdiocese of Boston is still hiding the names of predator priests," he said.
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Boston has not responded to GBH News’ request for comment.
Garabedian says the claims were each settled “in the high five figures.”
"The Archdiocese would not acknowledge anything, but settlements speak for themselves,” Garabedian said. “There were investigations into each claim, there were records reviewed, there were interviews. And the attorneys for the Achdiocese found my clients credible."
Steve Sheehan of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, says it’s not surprising that most of the names have not previously been publicly known.
"We continue to ask for the release of all names of all priests and clergy, including nuns, who have been involved and accused of sexual abuse of children or vulnerable adults,” Sheehan said.
Sheehan said the church refuses to release its “secret files” on clergy sex abuse. He said SNAP wants the see the statute of limitations to be lifted for all sexual crimes.
The six church officials named in the settlements are:
Deacon William Emerson, St. William’s Church, Tewksbury, (Permanent Deacon of the Diocese of Omaha, Nebraska): Complaint
Monsignor James J. Haddad, St. Eulalia Church, Winchester: Complaint
Fr. Paul R. McCarthy, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Norwood: Complaint
Fr. Paul J. McLaughlin, St. John the Evangelist Church, Swampscott, MA (no civil complaint was filed because the statute of limitations expired)
Fr. Francis E. O’Brien, Jr., Christ the King Church, Hudson: Complaint
Fr. Bernard L. Sullivan, St. Catherine of Genoa Church, Somerville:
Complaint
